Florida Bar Suspends Attorney Tied to Real Estate Fraud Probe (Another friend of Jeb)

[seafan]

Bar Suspends Attorney Tied to Real Estate Fraud Probe

Forrest Norman and Julie Kay
Daily Business Review
November 6, 2006

Attorney Gabriel Martin, who ran unsuccessfully for Miami-Dade public defender promising to clean up the office, has been suspended from practicing law after his firm was caught up in a federal real estate fraud investigation.
Two years ago, Martin was an up-and-coming Miami attorney whose Republican candidacy for public defender was endorsed by Gov. Jeb Bush.
But last month, the Florida Supreme Court suspended Martin's law license on an emergency basis as the FBI investigated an employee of Martin's law firm.

According to the Florida Bar's petition to suspend Martin's license, the attorney allowed an employee to complete almost 100 fraudulent real estate transactions, bringing millions of dollars into a trust account in Martin's name.

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According to an affidavit by Bar auditor Carlos Ruga, Martin employed a man who falsely represented himself as an attorney and directed a "vast conspiracy to defraud lenders and others by conducting fraudulent real estate closings."

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Ruga conducted a review of the records. According to Ruga's affidavit, he found that "George Garcia and his associates, together with straw buyers, brokers, and others, participated in at least ninety-two (92) closings which netted fortune to him and his cohorts."

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Martin allegedly allowed Garcia to close deals on 13 more properties between the time he received the subpoena and the time he finally appeared before Ruga in July. During that time, Martin's trust account received about $8.8 million from lenders.

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